Railway-car end construction.



J. M. ROHLFING. RAILWAY GAR END coys'rauo'non.

APPLICATION FILED M11114, 191s.

Patented Sept. 1-,*1914.

mi e/#02" Joly/1 M. RO/Y/f/iZ Q JOHN M. nonnrrney or s'r. Lonrs, MIssoUn-I, ZEQUNDRY COMEANY, or teursivirssonnr.

ASSIGNOR- T0 AMERICAN CAR AND CORPGLQATION OF NEW JERSEY.

EAIL' AY--GI%.E END CONSTIELUCTION.

messes To alZ 'whOm it may concern Be it known that l, J 01-11% a citizen of theUnited St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway- Car End Construction, of which the following is. a full, clear, and exact description, such as Will enable others skilled in the art .to which it appertai'ns to make and use the i same, reference being had to the accompanypart. of this SPC1l1-,

ing drawings, forming cation, in"w hi ch --Figure 1 is, an elevational view of a car endof myv improved construction. Fig. 2 isa vertical, section taken on the line 2-@ of. 1g. 1. Fig. 3 is a topplan view. 1 is a liorizontalsection taken on the line M' of Fig.1.

My invention relates generally to railway car end-construction, and more particularly to the, construction of the car end wall. In. railway cars,

end portions of the car bodies, and particu larly the end walls are subjected to great strains and stresses, not only sudden Starting and stopping of the cars andthe consequent vibration, but by reason of the shifting of the load or contents of the car while the latter is in transit, and also by reason of blows or shocks. which said end Wall'may receive while the car is in service.

I propose to. construct a car end from a plurality of sections of sheet metal, one or more of said sections being corrugated so as to strengthen and stiffen the plate to a maximun degree, thus providing a construction which" will effectively resist internally or externally applied stresses and blows, and which will transmit such stresses and strains to the'fsill' and plates ofthe car body frame.

The principalobject of my invention is r to construct the car end .from a iplurality of pieces of material, preferably sheet metal, eachi'piece .or section being reinforced and stiffened by means of ribs or corrugations pressed in the metal, thus providing a c0maratively simple, inexpensive construction which can-be readilyutilized with an ordinary car underfr'ame and superstructure, and which end will be efi'lective in resist ng stresses and strains resulting from shifting loads, ordinary service shocks and vibrations, or collisions v p 5 A further object of my invention Is, to:

Specification of Letters Patent.

M. Horn-nine States, res ding at and particularly those designed for and used in frelght service, the

because of the Patented Sept. 1, 1914:.

Application filed January 14, 1813. Serial No. 742,000.

construct acar end in sections, therebymaking it possible to utilize comparatively small pieces of sheet metal. in the formation of the completed end, which small pieces or sections can be more readily handled during the formation of the stiffening ribs or corrugations than Where a large single piece of material is utilized as the car end.

To the above purposes my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

As illustrated in the accompanying draw- 1ngs,1ny improved car end is composed of a pair of side sections or panels 1 and 2 and a central section or panel 3. These sections or panels are preferably formed of approximately rectangular pieces of sheet metal,-

and formed in the side sections or panels 1 and '2- in any suitable manner are horizontally disposed stiffeningribs or corrugations 4.

The side and top edges of the sections 1 and 2 are bent rearwardly at right angles to the plane occupied by the main body portions of said sections in order to form mar- .ginal flanges 5., by means of which the end is attached to the car body frame. The

lower edges of the sections 1 and 2 are bent outward into horizontal planes to form base flanges 6 which rcst'directly uponthe end sill or underframe of the car.

The main body portion of the tion or panel 8 occupies a plane in front of the plane occupied by the panels or sections 1 and 2, and said main body portion is slightly inclined so'that its base occupies a central seci position farther away from the panels orv sections 1 and 2 than its upper end, and thus said central-section performs the function of a brace for the central portion of the end.

The side portions of the central section 3 are bent at right angles to the main body portion of said. central section, designated by 7, and these bent side portions fit di: rectly against and are fixed to the outwardly bent inner edges 8 of the side sections 1 and 2. Therear edges of the bent portion 7 are flanged outward, as designated by 9, and fixed to the corresponding portions of the panels 1 and 2' by means of rivets or like fastening devices.

The upper end of the central section or panel 3 ls,bcnt rearwardly to form a flange 10 which corresponds with the flanges on the when the end is upon the underframe or end sill.

upper ends of the sections 1 and 2, and the lower portion of said centralsection is bent v outward to form-a-base flange 11, which, i applied to the car, rests directly In my improved construction of car end the ribs or corrugationsl materially stiffen" and reinforce the side portions of said end,- and the central panel or .sectlon 3 stiffeneand reinforces the central portion of said end, and by virtue of such constructionall internally and externally'applied shocks or; blows and all service strains and vibrations effectively resisted.

By forming the end in three panels or which tend to distort the end Wall Willbfe section of approximately equal size it is possible to utilize comparatlvely small sheetsotinetal, and this not only effects considerable saving-1n the nitial cost of construction, but enables the parts to be morereadily handled by workmen during the formation'of the ribs or corrugations'and in the assembling of the ends than where said end is formed of a singlelarge piece ot material.

It will be readily understood that minorchanges in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved car end" can be made and substituted for those here-- in shown and described Without departing froin the spirit' of my invention, the scoperof which is set forth in the appended claims. I claim: v v 1. A car end comprising a plurality oi panels or sections, the central one of which is oilset to 'an increasing extent from top to bottom so that the major portion thereof occupies a plane in front of the vertical plane occupied by the otherpanels, and said other panels having formed therein transverse stiffening ribs or corrugations. 2. A car end composed of a pair of sidesections or panels, and a central section forming a considerable portion of the 'end Walland disposed in a plane a substantial distance in front of the side sections and connected thereto by longitudinally directed 3. A car end composed of three vertically disposed sections or panels, ,main portions disposed on llllQS parallel transversely of the car, the central one of which sections occupies a plane a substantialdistance in front of the plane occupied by the side sections.

4. A car end composed of sheet metal, the central portion of which occupies a plane a substantial distance in front of the plane occupied by the side portions and forms a stiffening rib for the car end having its central to a vertical having their stiffening corrugations where y major' portion extending paralleltotheside portions transversely of the car.-

spect to the-sidep'ortionsfito a gradually in- "creasing extent fromftopjto bottom {and car end composed of sheet metal, the- "portion f Of. which is offset with -rejoined thereto by longitudinally directed] flanges disposed being provided with horizontally'arranged corrugations.

Q -A car'end composed of sheetmetal, the

t'c entral portion of whieh' is "offset with rep'ortion and joined thereto spect to the other gradually in by flanges ,WlliCl-l increase Width from-top to bottom.

*7. A carv end: constructed of;sheet metal, the central portion of which occu ies a plane in front of the plane occupied y the sideportions of the end, and-said-central portion being slightly inclined with respect plane and connected to the 'side portions'by Webs disposedat substantially right angles thereto.

8 A car end composed of three vertically disposed panels, the outer ones of which areprovided with stiffening corrugations, and

substantially at right angles' to said'po'rtlons, and said side portions the central one of ivhich panels occupies a position in front/of the .plane occupied by said 'outer panels; said central panel being connected to said outer panels by flanges extending at right "angles to the faces of the panels and of gradually increasing width from top to bottom? tion onset with respect to the} other portionand connected thereto by parallel flanges direct-ed longitudinally of the car to form a stiffening and bracing meinber, the

lateral portions ofthe can end being provided with stifi'eningcorrugations terminat ing adjacent the said offset bracing portion. 10. A our end constructedof sheet metal structure so as to form a stiffening and bracing member for the lateral. ortions', and the lateral portions being l vided with the bracing influence of the offset-portion may be transmitted throughout said lateral portions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this eighth day of January. 1913. JOHN M. ROI-ILFING. \Vitnesses:

Oscan I-Iocmucno, \ViLLnmt V. MoRRIsoN.

.95 s 511A bar end constructed of-sheet metal having a' vertically extending middle 'porhaving a 'ertically extending middle porjtion connected to the lateral portions by parallel webs extending longitudinally of the car-and offset at the bottom of the end 

